Baker Tilly DHC, the Indian arm of a leading global accountancy and business advisory services company, was the transaction adviser of this deal, while Fox Mandal and DSK Legal were the legal advisors to KAL and Mandala Capital, respectively.

The move, according to the company, will mark a significant development in the agro food processing sector in India and boost foreign direct investment (FDI) in West Bengal. KAL will utilise the capital raised for its future expansion plans, which will help fuel its growth story further.

The company has revamped its business strategy, and to this effect, its governing board has rearranged the key functions of its top management. Mayank Jalan was recently designated as its chairman and managing director. He would also play a pivotal role in taking forward Metro Dairy’s growth agenda as its chairman.

Mahendra Kumar Jalan, founder, KAL would continue to guide the management and provide strategic inputs as its chairman emeritus. “We have charted out a robust growth plan for each of our businesses, be it dairy, bananas or frozen foods,” Mayank Jalan said.

“Thus, we were looking for an experienced investment partner who would be a part of our journey going forward, and who could be better than Mandala Capital, with its proven track record of successful partnerships with some of the finest organisations operating in the Indian agro business sector,” he added.

“With this fresh infusion of capital, we intend to invest about $100 million into our dairy business in West Bengal and grow our food processing business exponentially - all towards our endeavour of turning into a $500 million company by the year 2022,” said Mayank Jalan.

Mandala Capital currently holds a portfolio which includes organisations across the spectrum of food-related businesses, such as seeds, biotechnology, sugar, biochemicals, irrigation, food processing, solar energy, agro-financing, logistics and cold chain, dairy, beverages and fresh produce.

“We believe there is significant potential in the food processing sector, and Keventer Agro has all the right ingredients to become the leading player in eastern India. We look forward to working with Mayank Jalan and his team to achieve this,” said Uday Garg, managing partner, Mandala Capital.